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Friday, January 26, 2001

Council briefed on water, landfill projects

RECOGNIZING YEARS OF SERVICE _ Mayor Ray Ortega (right)
presents former city shop foreman Ray Diaz (left) a certificate of recognition
for his 26 years of service during the Town of Pecos City Council meeting
last night. Diaz retired from his position on December 31. Ortega also
presented Diaz with a plaque and watch.

By LEIA HOLLANDStaff WriterPECOS, Jan. 26, 2001 - A representative of Frank X. Spencer & Associates
updated the Town of Pecos City Council on the status of several engineering
projects they are working on for the city, during the council's regular
meeting Thursday night at City Hall.

Abidur Khan, engineer for Spencer & Associates, gave the council
a slide presentation on the status of two wells in the Worsham Water Well
Field, the development of the South Worsham Water Well Field and the Arid
Exempt Landfill Permit.

Before beginning his presentation Khan allowed Carlos Colina-Vargas,
grant administrator, to give the council members some information on the
status of their grant request.

Colina-Vargas informed the council that the state made a mandatory visit
to go over files, records and other documentation involving the Worsham
Well Field project to determine if the city was in compliance with the
terms of the grant.

He explained that the grant was approved in the 1999 fiscal year but
was not implemented until 2000 therefore making it the fiscal year 2000
well project, on which he added the work is almost done.

"The project is substantially completed," Colina-Vargas said. The only
thing left on well No. 16 is the security fencing around the well.

"We're well ahead of schedule," he said.

Khan supported Colina-Vargas' remarks by giving the Council an update
on wells 16 and 7.

He said the fencing must be completed before the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission (TNRCC) allows the city to use it.

Khan said the TNRCC has already approved the well but "can not tie into
the transmission line until the fencing is up."

He also informed the Council that over $42,000 of funding remains, meaning
the project will come in under budget.

Not much more work is left on well No. 7 than well No. 16.

Khan explained that the fencing also needs to be built around that well,
along with installation of some well piping, an eight-inch transmission
line and well dissinfection.

The city is going to construct the fences around both wells once materials
are purchased, using the grant money.

Utility Director Octavio Garcia told the council that the fencing should
be completed and the wells ready for use before summer.

"Hopefully we'll get it up and running before summer," he said.

Khan told the council that the first phase of development of the South
Worsham well field is underway now with the next phase _ design - hopefully
coming soon. The South Worsham field is beging developed to supply water
to the city after a 1994 study said the Worsham and Ward County water fields
would not provide enough drinkable water after 2008.

The first phase of the development is the environmental impact statement
in which the city must get the go-ahead from several state agencies before
development can begin, according to City Manager Carlos Yerena.

On the Arid Exempt Landfill Permit, Khan said the application was submitted
to the state on Dec. 6, 2000.

The state is reviewing the application and will be looking at such things
as the city's eligibility and the level of the groundwater at the landfill
site.

Yerena said that Spencer & Associates is trying to coordinate their
efforts that will enable them to move on with the design stage of the landfill
development once the permit is approved.

He said that they do not want to move to quickly and spend much money
on the design stage until it is fairly certain that the city's application
will be approved.

"We don't want to spend too much money on the design," he said. "Not
until we feel very confident that we'll be getting the permit."

The city was denied an exemption 10 years ago, and was forced to build
a costlier landfill trench with clay and rubber linings.

The council did not take any action on those agenda items following
Khan's presentation.

In other action, Classic Cable representative Leann Pittard discussed
the decision the Cable Company has made to shut down the Pecos office and
replace it with a payment center.

Pittard said that the payment center would be better for the company
and there would be a local technician who works out of his company truck
to service any repairs.

She said that there is an 800 number that would allow the customers
to make requests for service.

"So it's free to the customers to call," she said.

Councilman Gerald Tellez asked Pittard if the 800 number would be available
in both English and Spanish.

Pittard said she not sure but she believed it would only be in English.

City Attorney Scott Johnson informed Pittard that some community members
do not agree with the office closing.

"Some citizens are upset they will be closing," he said.

He explained that the community is used to having an office in town
where they could make complaints or ask questions when they needed to.

Pittard said the company is not able to afford to employ one person
in offices in all the community Classic Cable services and the payment
center would be better.

"In the long run it will make us more efficient," she said.

She admitted that she was not very knowledgeable to the workings of
Classic Cable because she was an employee of a company that Classic Cable
bought.

She told the Council and audience that she would make a list of their
concerns to take back to the company.

Pecos residents and city council members protested a decision by United
Video Cablevision in 1991 to shut down its offices in Pecos, Crane and
Kermit and operate all area systems out of Monahans. Classic Cable reopened
an office in Pecos after buying the systems from United Video five years
ago.

Classic Cable is currently installing fiber optic wiring in Pecos for
the introduction of digital cable service, and Mayor Pro-Tem Danny Rodriguez
said that many members of the community have complained about the loss
of service for hours at a time.

"A lot of people in the community are complaining they have six to eight
hours with service down," he said.

He asked Pittard if they plan to improve the service.

"Our new president is committed to customer service," she replied. "But
this is not going to happen overnight."

Pittard said she would take all these concerns back to the company and
the local office would be closed on February 28 with the payment site opening
by March 1.

In other business, the Council approved setting a date for a public
hearing on annexation for 7:30 a.m., on February 14 and 15.

The Council also approved the bid from Edubigen Ocon for the foreclosed
property at 409 E. Fifth Street for $1,500.

The Council also approved the minutes for the regular and special meetings
on January 11 and 12 as well as the juvenile and tax collector's reports.

Airbase's arrival sparked growth in Pecos

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one in a continuing series of
features on historical locations in Pecos region

By The Ghost WriterPECOS, Jan. 26, 2001 - In 1942, Pecos was a small country town with
a will to help in the war effort and at the same time to help the economy.
The April 3, 1942 edition of the Pecos Enterprise relates the town effort
to float a $50,000.00 bond issue to buy 2½ sections with lots south
of the present municipal airport and to extend water and sewer lines to
the area. This was to be used by a new Air Force training facility. The
bonds would have a 2½ percent interest rate for the first 10 years
and 2¾ percent the next 10 years. The War Department estimated that
the new construction would top $5,000,000.00. The vote was 534 for and
four against the bond issue. The four are likely the same ones who today
oppose any efforts to get new business in Pecos. If you know why only 538
people voted, call the Enterprise.

The war effort would surely bring on shortages of material and Pecos
would try to help in the production of rubber by planting four-acre experimental
plots of guayule. J. E. Couch, Barney Hubbs, W.E. Beckham and the Experiment
Station in Balmorhea planted the rubber plants. More recent trials to grow
the plant were tried by the Firestone Test Tract in Fort Stockton and the
A&M Agricultural Experiment Station southwest of Pecos. The plant grows
but is difficult to plant and other problems make it uneconomical. We also
grew long staple cotton to be used in parachute harness. It was good for
the war effort and the price was good.

The Pecos Army Air Field brought in a lot of newcomers and Pecos was
not prepared to house all of them. One of the camp followers (Mrs. Kuykendall
used "camp followers" meaning a wife who went with her husband who served
in the military, not as historians used the expression when talking about
the Roman army) was Lucy Roundtree Kuykendall who wrote a book P.S. to
Pecos. The book was miss-named. It should have been called, P.S. to Lucy
as her main object, it seems to me, was to impress the world of her cute
personality.

Many Pecos people were not happy with the book as no one enjoys having
a stranger point out the weak points of their community. Mrs. Kuykendall
did state in the Forward that Pecos was no different from other towns throughout
the nation that had an influx of people and no facilities to accommodate
them. She was not always factual about our town but on the whole I remember
many of the things she related. Pecos must not have been bad to all of
the military personnel as some returned to Pecos, married and made good
Pecos citizens.

Border Patrol finds quarter ton of pot

An attempt to smuggle over a quarter ton of marijuana into the United
States failed on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Border Patrol Agents, who are expert sign-cutters or trackers, noticed
that horses were used in this aborted attempt.

The arrest was one of two in the area on Tuesday. In the second agents.

Seized 169 lbs from a vehicle at the checkpoint on State Highway 118
south of Alpine from a United States Citizen.

The total value of marijuana seized for January 23, 2001 was put at
over $550,000.

High Thursday 73. Low this morning 41. Forecast for tonight: Increasing
cloudiness. Low in the lower 30s. Northeast wind 0 to 20 mph. Saturday:
Mostly cloudy and cooler with a 50 percent chance of rain. High in the
mid 30s. East wind 10 to 20 mph. Saturday night: Mostly cloudy with a chance
of rain. Low in the lower 30s. The chance of precipitation is 50 percent.
Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers or thunderstorms. Lows in
the upper 30s. Highs in the 50s to near 60.

Arlene Hill

Services are incomplete for Arlene Hill, 61, of Pecos, who died this morning
at her residence.